MLB.com's Carrie Muskat has been covering Major League Baseball since 1981 and is the author of "Banks to Sandberg to Grace: Five Decades of Love and Frustration with the Cubs." You can follow her on Twitter @CarrieMuskat. Here, she blogs about the Cubs.

Results tagged ‘ Pedro Strop ’

Friday and Saturday marked the first time Cubs relievers Pedro Strop and Hector Rondon pitched in back to back games this spring. Both right-handers have looked sharp. Strop has given up one earned run on three hits over 7 2/3 innings in eight games while striking out 14. Rondon, projected as the closer, was called on to get one out on Saturday. He has been charged with one earned run on eight hits over 7 1/3 innings.

Jason Motte has had back to back rough outings. The right-hander served up three runs on one hit, a home run, on Saturday, and has given up seven earned runs on four hits in two-thirds of an inning in his last two appearances.

Lefty Drake Britton, in contention for a spot in the ‘pen, has given up one earned run on five hits over 7 1/3 innings, while another contender, Zac Rosscup, has given up three earned runs on seven hits over eight innings. Rosscup has walked three, Britton has walked four. Veteran Phil Coke has not been charged with a run over seven innings in seven games, giving up three hits.

Brian Schlitter was rouged up in his first two outings, but since then, has given up one earned run on four hits over 4 2/3 innings, striking out three. Justin Grimm has appeared in just four games, but he missed time because of a brief bout with food poisoning.

There are 18 pitchers still in camp, including Dallas Beeler, who has missed time with soreness in his right bicep, Jacob Turner, who will open the season on the DL, and Tsuyoshi Wada, who threw 42 pitches in a sim game Saturday and has been slowed because of a groin injury.

With Jon Lester, Jake Arrieta, Jason Hammel and Kyle Hendricks set, and Edwin Jackson and Travis Wood battling for the fifth spot, here’s who’s left for the bullpen. Last season, the Cubs carried 13 pitchers, but most likely will go with 12 this year:

The Cubs avoided arbitration with their final eligible player on Thursday, agreeing to a one-year, $2.525 million deal with reliever Pedro Strop.

The right-hander will get a raise from $1.325 million after putting together a strong season in the bullpen. Strop appeared in 65 games, posting a 2.21 ERA over 61 innings, with 25 walks and 71 strikeouts. He picked up two saves and held batters to a .187 average, including .169 against righties.

Cubs officials say reliever Pedro Strop was “doing fine” after being involved in a two-vehicle accident in the Dominican Republic Thursday night. Initial reports were “very encouraging” regarding Strop, a Cubs official said Friday.

According to reports from the Dominican, the accident occurred in the San Cristobal province, west of the capital of Santo Domingo. Strop and a friend were in a car that crashed into a wall, and their vehicle and another vehicle involved were both destroyed.

The accident is the third involving a baseball player in the Dominican Republic in the last month. St. Louis Cardinals prospect Oscar Taveras was killed in a car crash on Oct. 26, and Rangers prospect Ronald Guzman was uninjured in a fatal car crash earlier this week. In August, Cubs shortstop Starlin Castro lost a relative and three friends in a fatal car accident in the Dominican.

Hector Rondon was placed on paternity leave on Friday to be with his wife, Keilin, who is expecting their first child. Pedro Strop, who had been sidelined with a groin strain, was activated from the disabled list.

An MRI revealed Cubs reliever Zac Rosscup has some inflammation in his left shoulder but no structural damage, and he will resume his throwing program in a week or so. Rosscup was placed on the 15-day disabled list Wednesday with left shoulder soreness, and examined on Thursday by team orthopedic specialist Dr. Stephen Gryzlo.

“I was feeling some discomfort in my shoulder area so I tried to rehab it a little bit and do some preventative work,” Rosscup said Friday. “It wasn’t going away so I figured it was best to get it looked at. It’s nothing serious. They saw some inflammation and a little bit of fluid, nothing too serious. I should be down for a week or so and then start cranking it up again.”

* The Cubs are skipping Jake Arrieta in the rotation to keep Jason Hammel and Jeff Samardzija on schedule and also give Arrieta some time to work on his mechanics. Arrieta has made three starts since coming off the disabled list, and been limited to about 80 pitches each time.

He started on Tuesday in St. Louis and is scheduled to open the Cubs’ series at San Diego on Thursday, and will have a couple side sessions before that when he can try to correct his delivery. Arrieta said he was “too rotational.”

* Pedro Strop, on the disabled list since May 7 with a left groin strain, expected to go to the Cubs’ facility in Mesa, Ariz., early next week to continue his rehab. There is no timetable for his return.

* Jose Veras needed just five pitches to get two outs in the sixth on Thursday in his first game back after missing time with a strained left oblique. Veras began the season as the Cubs closer but for now, manager Rick Renteria said they will continue to ease the right-hander into games.

“We’ll chip away and let him have success and continue to work,” Renteria said.

The Cubs began their Interleague series against the White Sox hoping to keep rookie sensation Jose Abreu in check but the guy they had trouble with Tuesday night was .167-hitting Gordon Beckham. Beckham matched a career high with four hits, including a tie-breaking solo home run with two outs in the eighth, to lift the White Sox to a 5-1 victory over the Cubs and take a 2-0 lead in the intracity series.

The White Sox won, 3-1, in 12 innings on Monday, and the series now shifts to the south side of town for two games at U.S. Cellular Field.

The Cubs wasted a solid start by Edwin Jackson, who faced the minimum in the first three innings, and needed just six pitches to get through the third. He said he was inspired by Jeff Samardzija’s outing on Monday when the right-hander threw 126 pitches over nine innings.

In the fourth, Beckham singled to lead off and moved up on a wild pitch. One out later, Dayan Viciedo was hit by a pitch but forced at second on Alexei Ramirez’s fielder’s choice. Beckham scored on the play.

With one out in the Cubs’ fifth, Junior Lake singled and Chris Coghlan walked. After Jackson struck out trying to bunt, Emilio Bonifacio singled past an outstretched Beckham to drive in Lake and tie the game.

The White Sox created a cushion in the ninth as Tyler Flowers hit a RBI double and Jordan Danks added a two-run double off Pedro Strop, who had to leave after facing five batters. Strop will have an MRI on Wednesday. He has been bothered for the last five days by a sore left groin.

The Cubs avoided arbitration with outfielder Nate Schierholtz, infielder Luis Valbuena and relievers James Russell and Pedro Strop on Friday, and exchanged salary figures with their other four arbitration eligible players, including Jeff Samardzija.

Schierholtz signed for $5 million, while Valbuena agreed to a $1.71 million contract and Russell signed a $1.775 million deal with the Cubs. Strop signed a $1.325 million contract.

The other four arbitration eligible players exchanged salary figures. The Cubs offered Samardzija $4.4 million, and he is seeking $6.2 million. Travis Wood filed for $4.25 million, and the Cubs countered at $3.5 million; Darwin Barney filed for $2.8 million, and the team offered $1.8 million. Justin Ruggiano, who the Cubs acquired in a trade with the Marlins for Brian Bogusevic, was seeking $2.45 million, and the team offered $1.6 million.

The players and the Cubs will continue to negotiate. Arbitration hearings are scheduled for Feb. 1-21 if no settlement is reached before then.

Now that the Cubs have a manager in place, the next step is to stock the roster, and Theo Epstein said they are in the market for more pitching. Next week, Epstein will have face to face talks with representatives for free agents and start possible trade talks at the GM meetings. The Cubs have traded 40 percent of their starting rotation the last two seasons but Epstein said they are not looking for free agents who they can sign and then flip at the Trade Deadline.

“Every starting pitcher we acquire is someone we hope is starting Game One of the World Series for us,” Epstein said.

Last offseason, the Cubs courted free agents Anibal Sanchez and Edwin Jackson. Sanchez signed with the Tigers and went 14-8 with a 2.57 ERA in 29 starts, while Jackson agreed to a four-year, $52 million deal with the Cubs and finished 8-18 with a 4.98 ERA in 31 starts.

“We believe there’s a lot better ahead for Edwin Jackson,” Epstein said of the right-hander, who led the Majors in losses. “He stayed healthy for the entire season, he’s still only 30 years old, and his underlying performance was better than the stat line that you read on the scoreboard and he never quit. He’s certainly somebody who can impact us and fill a rotation spot going forward.”

Jackson will join Travis Wood, Jeff Samardzija, and Jake Arrieta in the Cubs’ 2014 rotation, but Epstein would like to add another starter. The Cubs will talk to Scott Baker, who spent the year rehabbing from Tommy John surgery and now is a free agent, but the right-hander also is exploring other options.

The Cubs also are in the market for a closer. After Carlos Marmol struggled and was then traded, and Kyuji Fujikawa was injured, Kevin Gregg stepped in and totaled 30 saves for the third time in his career. He’s now a free agent and shopping around.

“We have guys who could close,” Epstein said of the Cubs’ in-house options, “but I think that’s an opportunity for us. If you go to market with the closer’s role ready to bestow on somebody, that can help you sign a pretty good pitcher and can help your club. … We’re going to hit the market with a full closing opportunity to offer to the right pitcher we acquire, either through free agency or a trade, and know we have some interesting options in house.”

One of the players currently on the roster who could close is right-hander Pedro Strop, acquired from the Orioles in the Scott Feldman deal.

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